Tag: books

I’m a reader. I don’t mean that to sound as though I do light reading, or that I have an interest in books. I read constantly, and I think many Pagans/Occultists are the same way.

Yesterday it was time to purge my collection. For about two weeks I had been waiting for friends to come by and peruse my collection and pick out what they wanted before I took the whole mess to my favorite Used Book Store.

In the end only one of my friends stopped by, and he took a total of three books, which didn’t even punch a peep-hole in the collection.

books

Every few years I do this. Every few years I collect so many books that I need to just give them away, trade them for credit at the Used Book Store, or leave them at the local charity bookstore. Mostly these are Fantasy, Scifi, and Horror titles and mostly fiction. I rarely part with non-fiction, as I’m pretty picky about my non-fiction choices and they tend to be good or useful in some way.

So, now after hauling a few hundred books to the Used Book Store of choice, I still have about 30 more that will go to the charity book store that gives all proceeds to the local library system. And when my wife came home yesterday from work she still said “We have a lot of books.” Because we do, or I do…after all that work I still have books that never leave my house.

…and now that I have about 150$ in trade-in credit at my bookstore of choice not only will my collection grow once more, but many of my old books may return. The problem with frequenting the same bookstore for twenty years is that you find yourself buying and re-buying some of the same books…as long as the money stays local I guess that’s a good thing.

Part deux of my book list. Just to reiterate that this list is not meant to be a Top 10 of must reads for Occultists/Neopagans/Magicians. It is merely a walk down memory lane, a way for me to analyze how these books influenced my path or moved me forward. Most of these were read or viewed many many many years ago. Here are the Last 5-

1. Speak Daggers to Her by Rosemary Edghill

This book is mystery fiction. Why it’s on the list is because it was a book that helped bring me back into the Neopagan fold. I read it at a time when I had stopped all of my spiritual practice, after several years of Occult involvement I was disengaged, I felt that as a grounded person, not given to whimsy and fantastical ideas, the Pagan way of life was not for me. Then I came upon Edghill’s Bast series.

It presents a fictional look at the New York Wiccan scene in the guise of a fun mystery novel. The first few sentences say it all, ” I live in New York and I’m a Witch. Put away your pitchforks-or more likely in the nineties stifle your yawns…It’s just my religion.” , this statement hit me right in the head. Here was a Neopagan women who displayed her belief realistically to readers, not in terms of fluffy bunny happy fairies, or a Paganism that was so separated from modern reality that it was unrecognizable to everyday life. For me it was a reminder that Paganism didn’t need to be about courting experiences of extreme vision or deity intervention or seeing fairies playing in the woods, it was about a way of living that reflected a religious sense of harmony within self and even more it displayed a deep sense of community.

I really can’t think of one instance when the book veers into the fantastic and as far as I know it was the first of it’s kind that portrayed a realistic look into Pagan community and purpose.

I would recommend just getting all three of these small novels – Bell, Book, and Murder fits them all into one anthology.

2. Bulfinches Mythology

Not much to say about this. As a kid I loved mythology and fantasy, and in my high school years it grew as I became more acquainted with the mythologies of world religions. I was especially drawn to the Norse mythologies and remember how powerful the image of Odin presented at the beginning of the Norse Tales was for me. A bit simplistic of a book now, but I still have a copy, and it’s good for those wanting a general overview of cultural mythology.

3. A Practical Guide to the Runes by Lisa Peschel

My first book on Runes. I don’t have this book anymore because it’s a little too new agey for me these days. When I first started my study of Runes this was the one book I began reading. It’s not bad. Overall it’s a good primer on Rune divination, which is also why it’s not that good. The book doesn’t provide anything other than divination information, and it also includes the Wyrd Rune which, if your going to take Runic work serious has no place in the field. Again, not a serious book on Runelore, but good for those starting out with Runes as a divination form.

4. Astral Projection by Denning & Phillips

Astral Projection was a book that opened my eyes to the world of meditation. I’m not sure that was the goal of the book, but for me that’s what it did. The book made use of mediation and visualization quite alot, and after implementing many of the books exercises I didn’t find myself Astral Projecting but I did find meditation very stimulating and powerful. Of course my meditations changed throughout the years, but there was some good information in the book that got me started.

5. Robin of Sherwood the TV Show

Not a book obviously, but in my mind integral to pushing me to read mythology and investigate nature. I lived in the country growing up and as kid I spent alot of my time in the woods, near streams, sitting alone in gullies and walking across prairies. I very distinctly remember silently communing with the wild as a kid, sitting still and feeling and knowing that I was a part of the world around me.

How does that tie in with the Robin TV show? Well, the show presented a landscape that was alive. When I first saw the show I was frightened a little because it verified my inkling that the natural world was alive, and it presented it through the magic of hidden forest paths and the figure of Herne. It was a magical show that I often hear other pagans discuss…check it out if you haven’t.

I may post another top 10 of books or references that are more current.